


A Helping Hand and a Helping of Toast

by Lina_Love



Series: Fake Chop - Addicted Aleks AU [3]
Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Anxiety, Drug Addiction, Drug Withdrawal, Fake Chop, James is a good boyfriend, M/M, Panic Attacks, Vomiting, aleks doesn't deserve him honestly, brett is mean but he does it because he cares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 12:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16872819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lina_Love/pseuds/Lina_Love
Summary: Set before 'Bitter like Coffee, Sweet like Sugar.'James helps his boyfriend with the early stages of his withdrawals.





	A Helping Hand and a Helping of Toast

Once Aleks had finally gotten it through his head that he wasn’t going to get past Brett and out of the warehouse was when the worst of his symptoms had started.  The knowledge that his next fix wouldn’t be coming anytime soon instantly set off alarm bells in his head, and in turn sent waves of anxiety and desperation through his veins.  All of it came bundled up with a churning desire to keep up with his bad habits and coping mechanisms. It didn’t take long for the toxic cocktail of feelings to drive him to the point of what he was sure onlookers would call hysteria.

Brown eyes widened like saucers, pupils large and panicked as his skinny arms gestured wildly in the general direction of Brett.  The smug bastard was standing between himself and the door, and he had never hated his face more.

“You fucking **_asshole._ ”**  Aleks hissed out, emotions strained, seething beneath the surface.  “I swear to fucking God, dude, they won’t find your body. I will fucking ruin you--”  

The Russian cut himself off as an unexpected wave of crippling nausea rolled through his body.  Normally pale features faded out even more, making him look almost ghost like. Aleks felt his arms moving before he knew what was happening, and he clutched onto his stomach tightly.  If he thought he hated Brett before, he _despised_ him now, a sound from Brett’s lips sour in his ears--all amused and victorious from his pain.

“What’s the matter?  Already sick?” Brett questioned, tilting his head to the side in a mocking manner.  The older man pointed towards Aleks and James’ shared bedroom and turned his chin up.  “Go lay down, Aleks. You’re going to have a hell of a fucking few days ahead of you.”

“ ** _Die._** ”  The Russian spat back in response, though he was already trudging towards his room.  The wave of sickness was almost dizzying, and he wouldn’t be able to fight his way past Brett right now.  No matter how much he wanted to.

“I’ll get right on that, buttercup.  Take a bucket with you, I’m not cleaning up your vomit.”  The bearded male called out, watching as Aleks flicked him off before he disappeared into his bedroom.

 

“You look like shit.”  

Aleks squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of James’ voice as he let his body fall onto the king sized bed that sat in the center of their shared room.  “Have you always been this fucking charming?” Aleks chirped as he instinctively curled in on himself, arms wrapped around his torso in an attempt to ward off his sickness.

It was inevitable.  This wasn’t the first time he’d been forced to deal with the icy, cruel jaws of withdrawal.  Every time it put his body through Hell. Every time he thought it’d get better, but it never did.  He still puked as much as he did the first time he tried to get clean, and he still got anxious and irritable and miserable.  The only thing that made this time different was that this suffering hadn’t been brought on by himself, it was being forced on him, and he couldn’t wait to beat the shit out of Brett the second he started to feel better.

“You’re sober.”  James muttered mostly to himself as the realization dawned upon him.  He already knew this wasn’t going to be fun, but he silently thanked Brett for keeping Aleks inside and away from his usual suppliers.  “...Christ, you’re not going to puke already, are you?”  
  
“It’s already been a day, asshole.  Just--get me the trash can. Please.”  

James frowned at the strained tone in Aleks’ voice.  He sounded smaller somehow. More vulnerable. It made him sad, it always made him upset to see his boyfriend as anything other than his usual, energetic self.  He had to see him this way more and more these days, but he somehow doubted a sick Aleks would be any more appealing than a high one.

“Yeah, you got it.”  The leader muttered, standing up from the bed to grab the small trash can that sat in the corner of their room, and he walked it over to the Russian.  

Aleks was quick to uncurl himself and take the offered piece of plastic, not too delicately shoving his head into it as he heaved up whatever was in his stomach.  It wasn’t much, he couldn’t remember eating anything in the past few days other than the odd candy bar and bag of snack sized chips, so the taste of stomach acid coated his tongue like bitter poison as he retched.

James curled up his upper lip in disgust at the sight, the sounds alone being torn from Aleks’ throat sounded painful and horrific enough.  He placed a hand on the smaller man’s back, and rubbed soothing circles as the other continued to hurl up all he could. He felt bad, and he knew from experience with the other that even if there was nothing inside of the other he’d still feel the need to puke, but he couldn’t help but think it served the other right.  He had brought all of this upon himself, and as much as it killed him to see Aleks in pain, maybe it would do him some good.

A minute or so passed before Aleks had finally stopped and set the trash can aside, and James stood to lift it up again.

“Lay down, man.  I’ll be back in a few, just--try and get some rest?”  James offered, taking it as a small victory when Aleks had to reply with was a small grunt as he rolled into himself again.

  
  
James left the bedroom, trashcan full of vomit in hand, and on his way to dispose of its contents, he met Brett’s gaze.  He gave the other a tired look as he tied off the shitty plastic bag that was lining the container, tying it off and dropping it outside to be dealt with at a later time.

“You’re evil, man.”  James said with a strained laugh as he made his way to the kitchen, moving on autopilot as he grabbed a glass from the cabinet, turning on the faucet so he could fill it with water.

“You know he needs someone to be strict with him.  It’s not my fault you let him do whatever the fuck he wants.  I love Aleks as much as you do, but the kid is a brat. He was going to have to learn that not everyone is going to put up with his shit at some point. ...Is that for him?”  Brett questioned, motioning to the glass of water.

“Well, yeah, but cold turkey is a little fucking much, Brett.”  The ravenette replied as he turned away from the sink, looking between the cup and Brett.  “Yup, he just puked his guts out. I don’t want him in bed with a mouth full of vomit.”

Brett gave a halfhearted shrug in agreement as he moved into the kitchen with James, grabbing a half eaten loaf of bread and popping two pieces into a thoroughly abused toaster.  “I wouldn’t want that either, man. When he’s done drinking, give that to him. I don’t care if you have to force him to eat, he’s going to be real fucking thankful to have something in his stomach the next time he pukes.  If you need my help with him, I’ll be in my room. Just scream or something, you’re pretty good at that.”

James watched as Brett plunged down the lever on the toasted, nodding to him as he walked off.  “Yeah. Right. Thanks--”

Once Brett was gone, James ripped off a few paper towels from the roll, wrapping the dry toast in them as he made his way back to the bedroom.

 

Upon returning, despite only being gone a few minutes, James’ noted how much Aleks’ state had already deteriorated.  His body was shaking and instead of laying down like he had been previously, he was sitting with his knees to his chest, hunched over with his eyes squeezed shut tightly.  

For Aleks’ part though, he thought he was faring pretty will given the circumstances.  His abdominal muscles were cramping up and squeezing the life out of him now that there was little to nothing in his body in the terms of nutrients, his body felt like it was on fire -- and if the way he was sweating was anything to go by, that feeling might not be too far off.  And on top of that, his already horrible anxiety was through the roof, consuming him whole and blocking out anything other than how fucking miserable he felt.

He couldn’t breathe.  Everything was too much, the pain in his stomach, the way his skin was too cold and too hot at the same time, and the way his lungs were being squeezed together made it impossible to do much of anything other than sit there and tremble.  He felt like throwing up again, but he was fearful of attempting to vomit again. Being hunched over and exerting himself while in the middle of a panic attack wasn’t a Hell he would wish upon anyone.

Breathe, Aleks...just breathe.  

His own voice was starting to fade out, and he was sure he was going to black out.

Until James placed a hand on his shoulder.

Coffee hues shot open, and he sucked in a breath that hit his lungs like a punch with the force and abruptness of it.  He was suddenly very aware of the fact that James was talking to him.

“...What?” Aleks questioned, unfocused eyes trying to stay settled on James’ familiar face.

“...I said, it’s going to be alright.  I’m here, man. Here, drink this.” James said, offering the lip of the water glass to Aleks’ lips.  

Two pale hands held onto James’ as the cup was tipped back, and Aleks greedily drank the contents down, trying to quench the heat that was burning him from the inside out.  The water also helped calm his frayed nerves, his panic dimming from a full blown attack down to a background feeling that was consumed by everything else going wrong in his body.  ...At least he could breathe again.

“...Thanks.”  The Russian mumbled when James pulled the now empty cup away.  

“Don’t mention it, man.  Here, uh...just eat what you can?  I think it’ll make you feel a little better, and when you puke again it’ll be less shitty.”  James said, offering the folded up paper towels to the other.

“You fucking suck, man.  I don’t want to eat shit right now.”  Aleks said quietly, though he settled against the headboard and pulled out one of the pieces of toast, nibbling on it slowly so he wouldn’t shock his system.  He probably should have been slower with the water too, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that now.

“Well, you’re eatin’ it, aren’t you?”  James said with a grin as he settled in beside Aleks.  His tan fingers found short, bleached locks and he began to run them through Aleks’ hair, rubbing his scalp as the other ate.

Aleks was quick to relax into the touch, the soothing nature of the gesture helping distract him from how horrible he felt.  It was still unbearable, and all he wanted to do was scream and cry and shake, but he forced himself to focus on James and the piece of bread he was consuming.  

They sat in silence as Aleks ate, and once he had finished James pulled Aleks to lay back down.  The Russian easily went with him, curling up against James’ side as the two of them settled into bed.

“You should try to sleep again.  This will go by faster if you can be out for most of it.”  James advised, running his thumb over Aleks’ cheek.

A tiny sound of agreement came from the Russian, one of his hands gripping onto James’ shirt tightly.  His body was still shaking, but the food and water in his stomach helped with some of the pain and nausea for the moment, and exhaustion was tugging at his mind.  

James moved his hand from Aleks’ face to wrap around him, and he began to rub soothing circles on the foreigner's back.  Aleks figured he wouldn’t be able to sleep for long, but with James petting him and the weight beside him, he felt safe and loved.

“...Yeah.  Fuck. Thanks for helping me and shit, dude.”  Aleks chimed out softly, his tense muscles relaxing under James’ touch that only lulled him closer to sleep.

“Don’t mention it.  You’d do the same for me.  ...Good night, ‘Leks.”

“...Night.  ‘Love you.” Came Aleks’ slightly slurred response, before he allowed himself to slip into unconsciousness, eager for the fleeting break it would bring from the effects of his withdrawal.

“...Love you too.”  James said, laying beside Aleks and continuing to rub his back even after the Russian’s breathing tapered off into a slow and even rhythm to alert him to the fact that his other half had finally reached a moment of peace.  When Aleks woke up, James knew he would need all the energy he could get in order to ensure that the other was as comfortable as possible during his time of weakness, so he’d need all the rest he could get. With that thought in mind, James slipped under into the grip of sleep as well.

**Author's Note:**

> let's add another fic to this au that i'm too invested in 
> 
> kudos and comments are appreciated. <3


End file.
